Gahhh! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while! So I'm going on vacation tomorrow morning and I've been busy packing and all that. I know this chapter is really short... and I'm sort of disappointed with myself. But it has some Zammie? :)
Don't hate me.
I also spelled Blackthorne right...so I'm happy about that. I promise to write some (or a lot) on the plane ride...
Hope you like the chapter though!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Gallagher Girls series.
ZACH
Zach sat there, stunned at Cammie. It had been so obvious. When everybody had that Miranda was replacing Cammie, no one even thought that she was Cammie.
Guilt consumed him. Because he really did ruin Cammie's life.
She had gone into hiding, hiding from the world of men after the way he broke her.
Zach could hear Cammie's words echo inside his head.
You could be Angelina's father.
You could be Angelina's father.
You could be Angelina's father.
They haunted his thoughts as he continued to sit there, unsure what to do next. Zach mulled everything that had happened in his head and after 17 minutes and 19 seconds, he got up.
Zach needed to know.
He snuck into Lina's room and into their bathroom. No, Zach is not a pervert, he found her hairbrush and pulled a couple hairs out of it.
Phase 1 complete. Phase 2 would be harder. Zach didn't know where Cammie's room was, so he needed to get a DNA sample directly from her.
That meant Zach had to find her. He had to face her and stop hiding like a coward.
It took Zach a while to find Cammie. Zach had thoroughly searched the whole mansion-including all of the secret passageways he knew of- before finally finding her when he looked outside the window.
Zach mentally slapped himself for not checking outside earlier. I'm losing my touch he thought to himself.
As he walked out the doors of Gallagher, Zach could see Cammie curled up in a ball in the middle of the huge green lawn. She was staring blankly into the distance with hollow, grieving eyes.
Zach wasn't so sure what to do anymore. Heck, he had a lot of these moments when it came to Cammie.
He was walking up behind her when her voice broke the silence.
"I know what you want Zach. You need to know, and I do too. Plus I knew you already went to Angel's room."
Zach wondered how she knew when Cammie lifted up a device in her hand.
"Silent alarm goes off whenever someone with a Y chromosome enters her room. Got it installed when I found out Blackthorne was coming."
Zach smiled on the inside.
"You're a good mother Cammie." He heard Cammie sigh.
"Am I Zach? I lied to her about me and my past and about who she was. When Angel found out, she threw a tantrum and ran away. I suspect she's probably somewhere in town now. I'd go after her, but something tells me she wouldn't appreciate that."
Zach was suddenly curious. "Why do you call her Angel? Everyone else calls her Lina. I was under the impression she didn't really like her name."
Cammie managed a small smile. "Nobody likes their name. You don't like being called Zachary and I don't like being called Cameron. Anyways, I call her Angel because she's my angel. Just like how Chloe is yours."
The last part sounded emotionless. Zach felt a sudden urge to hug Cammie and comfort her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap.
"I didn't want to do it Cammie. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. You were supposed to only get a couple of bruises while I got their trust and snuck into the control room. It was supposed to take maybe 3 hours max, not a couple of days. They were supposed to trust me sooner. I didn't expect them to make me prove my trust in….that way. We weren't supposed-"
Zach's breath hitched.
We weren't supposed to end the way we did.
"I forgive you"
Those three words that Zach needed to hear from her. The three words that finally set him free from his anguish.
And Cammie hugged him tightly; her head still fitting perfectly on his shoulder. He hugged her back. They stood there for what felt like an eternity.
Then she pulled away.
"Zach…" she started cautiously, "you're married. Plus, you need to go find out. Find out now. Everything you'll need should be in the chemistry lab."
Then Cammie pulled out a couple strands of hair and handed them to him. Zach started headed back in, but he stopped and turned around to face her.
"If anything Cammie, I did love you. I'm not sure about now. But trust when I say I loved you, I really did."
He stared at her emotionless face for a couple of seconds before turning around again and walked towards the lab.
Cammie was right. Everything Zach needed was in the chemistry lab. Zach took the correct chemicals and prepared the DNA samples, including some of his own.
A simple gel electrophoresis test would do, Zach learned how to do it in the 1st grade. He loaded the gel and waited.
Zach looked at the results. Actually he stared at the results for a good 7 minutes and 28 seconds.
Zach wanted to know how to feel-and what to do- when you find out you father two children to two different women.
One his wife, and one his ex-girlfriend.
His life just got that much more complicated.
So of course, that's the moment Andrew decided to walk in.
"Hey Dad, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Andrew exclaimed, sort of out of breath.
Zach managed a weak smile; he had been wandering all over the school looking for Cammie and had always been good at losing a tail. Now all Zach had to do was break the news to his son.
"Hey Andrew, what have you been up to?"
"Oh we just had a mission for CoveOps. I helped Caleb hack into a disk that Uncle Jonas and Aunt Liz made. Guess what? We found out Miranda Kaufman is really Cameron Morgan! Can you believe that?"
Zach was stunned. Well, here was the opening he needed.
"Yes, I actually can believe that. Good job by the way, that must have been one heck of a disk to break into. You know Angelina is Cammie's daughter right?"
Andrew shaked his head up and down excitedly, happy for knowing something.
"Okay. Well…you don't…uh….like her do you?"
This was getting awkward and a bit disturbing for Zach. Thankfully, Andrew just stared at him strangely.
"Like her? Uhh Dad? What are you smoking? I don't like her."
Zach was confused. "But..but…didn't you flirt with her that day you met her?"
Andrew just laughed. "Nah. It's just fun to annoy her. I did my research too and found out she didn't date. I wanted to see how far I could push her buttons. I mean, I guess I care about her…just more like a little sister."
Andrew looked deep in thought. Zach laughed nervously.
"Yeah… about that. Lina is well, your half sister."
Andrew just stood there. Zach half-expected him to faint.
"Well that was unexpected. I knew Cammie Morgan was your ex-girlfriend, but I didn't know you guys went, uh…. That far. "
Zach raised his eyebrows at his son.
Andrew held his hands up in surrender. "What? I'm a teenage boy. What did you expect?"
Zach sighed. "Anyways Andrew, Lina just found out that her mother is Cameron Morgan and not Miranda Kaufman. Guess how that went."
"Badly?" Andrew guessed.
"Exactly. So now Lina's mad at her mother. I feel really bad about this….so why don't you go find her? Then you can break to her that you're her half-brother."
"Great. Exactly what I wanted to do this afternoon. Tell my half-sister that she has a half-brother while she's still mad at her mother for lying to her. This will be fun." Andrew exclaimed sarcastically.
Zach grumbled. "Just go Andrew."
Andrew stepped dramatically out of the room and made his way into Roseville.
Zach collapsed into a chair.
This was way too much to take in for one day.
Sigh. So the next chapter is going to be in Lina's point of view! Ohhh... I have my plot line all planned out. Now all I need is time to write it down and reviews to keep me motivated. :D
Tell me what you thought of the chapter? Review! ;)